Final Post: Second Cup of Black Coffee: AeroPress at Caffe Ladro

Well, I think this blog has hit the end of its shelf life, because from here on out my posts are going to be pure coffee geekery, rather than "first time" coffee experiences.  When I started this blog, I had never tried coffee and had just reached a point in my life where the "appeal" of coffee had begun to outweigh the "stigma" I had created for myself about drinking coffee.  Now, hardly more than a week after starting this blog, I feel I have really come to love coffee, and my journey has shifted from "discovering" coffee to "perfecting" coffee.

First Pour-Over @Tougo Coffee: Kuma Esmerelda Geisha

After a solid few days of drinking cappuccinos and really starting to enjoy them (the capp I had at Tougo a couple days ago with Handsome Dandy espresso was so good I almost high-fived the barista), I decided today was the day I'd try pour-over.  One, because I felt like I had sufficiently acquired a taste for coffee, and two because as much as I like cappuccinos, my goal has always been to appreciate coffee in its purest state.  So, I marched myself back to Tougo—which has kind of become my go-to spot, due to its friendly staff, mellow/inviting atmosphere, and the fact that I've liked the coffee there better than Stumptown, Victrola, or Caffe Vita so far—and decided to throw myself on the mercy of the barista for my first pour-over.

Second Cappuccino, at Tougo Coffee Company

Well, no firsts today, unless you count "first time enjoying an espresso beverage primarily for the espresso".  I was all gung-ho to go to Seattle Coffee Works and hit their slow bar to have my first pour-over coffee, since all my friends say pour-over is less bitter and generally less intense than espresso, and generally easier to enjoy and to pick out flavor nuances for someone with an untutored palate.  But I got lazy and decided not to venture down to the Pike Place market, and decided instead to hit the closest coffee shop to my apartment, which is Tougo Coffee Company.  I almost ordered a pour-over there, because they are a very respectable multi-roaster coffee shop, but at the last minute I decided to play it familiar.  A cappuccino just sounded better to me for some reason.

Cappuccino at Victrola Coffee Roasting

This is getting to be a regular thing for me, having coffee around 5:30 PM.  It's weird, because I would never drink tea at that time of day (it would surely keep me wired well into the next morning), but I'm beginning to enjoy this little evening ritual.

I intended to go back to Espresso Vivace and order a more serious drink, but they were PACKED, so I decided to go see if Victrola Coffee Roasting (the third of Seattle's famous "V" roasters) was more mellow.  Being kind of on the outskirts of Capitol Hill, it was indeed a mellower experience, and represents my most positive coffee shop experience to date.

Espresso Con Panna at Caffe Vita

I woke up today thinking I might take a break from my coffee adventures, as I woke up with the distinct desire only for tea, and not feeling the least bit curious about trying more coffee.  However, as 6 PM rolled around and I found myself out at the Columbia City PCC Market searching for an elusive Harvester Apple IPA, I realized that I actually wanted coffee.  Whoa!  That is a new feeling to me.  As luck would have it, there's a Caffe Vita across the street from that store, which is another local Seattle roaster I've heard good things about, but never venture in to their Capitol Hill location because it's always swarmed with hipsters.  This location was quiet and inviting, so I decided to pop in for a quick espresso con panna.

Backing Off a Bit with a Dirty Chai at Broadcast Coffee

After yesterday's less-than-pleasant experience with Stumptown's macchiato, I decided today that I should tone it down a bit.  So I decided to see what happens when coffee and tea come together in my stomach for a caffeinated menage-a-trois.  I often pass Broadcast on my way to the gym, and it gets pretty good Yelp reviews, so I figured I'd stop in for a dirty chai on my way home for an early-evening pick-me-up.

First Cup of "Serious Espresso" at Stumptown Coffee Roasters

Emboldened by my positive experience with the gentle Cafe Nico at Espresso Vivace yesterday, I decided I had to try something more serious.  From what I had read, a macchiato sounded like the ticket, as it's sort of an "espresso with training wheels".  Many of my friends had recommended Stumptown, which has a roaster-café not far from my apartment.  I was also intrigued in reading the tasting notes on their Hair Bender Espresso:

"Coffees from every major producing region provide the individual components of this complex sweet and savory blend, which yields flavors of milk chocolate, caramel, jasmine, meyer lemon, apricot, and pineapple."

Hey, that sounds pretty great, right?  If it tastes like it says, who wouldn't like it?

First Cup of "Real" Coffee at Espresso Vivace

After my lackluster loss-of-virginity to a few sips of Chameleon Cold-Brew this morning, I decided my next experience needed to be top notch.  After all my hours reading Yelp reviews, the consensus seemed to be that Espresso Vivace represents the best espresso Seattle has to offer.  Particularly the drink that everyone seems to rave about there is the Cafe Nico, a 4 oz drink made from a shot of espresso with some foamed half-and-half and a touch of some orange and vanilla syrup.

Of course, that sounded a little too frou-frou for my purist sensibilities, and I was all set to go straight for a macchiato.  That's why I told myself anyway, and what I spent most of the ~2-mile walk to the café rehearsing in my head: "I'd like a macchiato for here, please."

The Big Day: Bye-Bye, Coffee Virginity

I've been agonizing over this for DAYS now.  I have read Yelp reviews on all the coffee roasters within a 5 mile radius of my apartment.  I have read the Coffee FAQ from start to finish.  I've read reviews of different espresso blends, different brewing methods, explanations of the different growing regions of the world and how different roast levels affect the flavor...I probably know more about coffee at this point than many people who've been drinking it their whole lives.  I've solicited guidance from my friends on facebook and from my fellow Seattle Yelpers.  I am, to put it lightly, EXTREMELY over-prepared for my first time.

Puerh Tea: My Basis for Comparison

Most people in America have never had good tea, or even decent tea, by my estimation.  I know this because I can't seem to find good tea in any café or restaurant ANYWHERE.  I can count on one hand the number of specialty tea shops I've been able to find around the SF Bay Area that offer the sort of tea I make at home, and while I'm still exploring the tea shops in Seattle, results so far have not been promising.

There are many varieties of tea—and by "tea" I strictly mean "the beverage made from the leaves of the camellia sinensis plant", perhaps even more than there are varieties of wine grape and coffee beans.  The basic categories of "white, green, oolong, black, puerh" are in fact quite broad; each one is really a world unto itself, and one could easily fill a book describing the flavors and varieties found in each category.  I am not by any means an expert (though I might seem like it relative to most Americans), but I've definitely sampled hundreds of different varieties of tea.  And my favorite by far are the puerhs.

Confessions of a Coffee Virgin

My name is Jason, I'm 30 years old, I live in Seattle, and I've never tried coffee.  Not "never had a full cup", not "don't like coffee", not "don't drink coffee for health reasons", full-on never tried it.  Not even a sip.  I am a coffee virgin.

But that is about to change.